Apparatus for producing crimped filaments from synthetic polymers

ABSTRACT

Apparatus is disclosed for stretching and crimping filaments or yarns from synthetic polymers. The crimping device includes a heated, driven roller with a pressure plate and stowing or packing flaps mounted about the circumference of the roller to stuffer crimp the filaments or yarns.

nitedStates Patent 1191 Ellegast et a1.

[5 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING CRllVlPED FILAMENTS FROM SYNTHETIC POLYMERS Inventors: Konrad Ellegast, Leichlingen;

- Robert Schnegg, Dormagen; Karl.

August Essig, Marl; Horst Wieden, Dormagen, allof Germany Bayer Aktiengesellschaft, Leverkusen, Germany Filed: Dec. 23, 1971 Appl. .N0.2 211,565

v Related U.S. Application Data Continuation-impart of Ser.'No. 29,045, ,April 6 1970, abandoned.

Assignee:

30 Foreign Application Priority Data .1451 July9, 1974 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,076,250 2/1963 Baer 28/1.6 3,178,794 4/1965 Carruthers 28/7214 X 3,253,314 5/1966 Shattuck 28/1.6 3,303,546 2/1967 Van Blerk 28/72,14 x 3,412,443 1 1/1968 Backer 28/7213 3,441,988 5/1969 Bach 28/1.6 3,526,937 9/1970 Kubler 28/l.6

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 291,120 5/1928 016a: Britain.....' 28/13 883,141 11/1961 Great Britain 28/72.l3

Primary Examiner-Robert R. .Mackey Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Plumley & Tyne r ABSTRACT Apr. 24, 1969 Germany 1920760 U.S. Cl 28/l.3, 28/15, 28/1.6

Apparatus is disclosed. for stretching and crimping filaments or yams from synthetic polymers. The crimping device includes a heated,,driven roller with a pressure plate and stowing or packing flaps mountedabbut the Int. Cl D02q l/20, D02q l/lO, D02q l/12 Field of Search 28/13, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 28/7211, 72.13, 72.14; 19/.32

circumference of the roller to stuffer crimp the fila-1 ments 01' yarns.

3 Claims, 8'Drawing Figures- 1 APPARATUS FORPRODUCING CRIMPED FILAMENTS FROM SYNTHETIC POLYMERS This is a continuation-in-part of US. Pat. application Ser. No. 29 045 filed Apr. 16, I970, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a device for crimping or texturing synthetic filaments or yams of thermoplastic high molecular weight polymers, by means of a special stuffing box crimper.

planar or curved plate which is pressed against a heated, rotating godet and forms, with the godet, below the contact line, a cavity delimitedby one or more moving flaps exerting an accumulating or stuffer action. Directly behind the plate/godet pressure line is a cavity in whichthe crimping of the filaments takes place. 1 d The attached drawings illustrate various embodiments of this invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of the apparatus of this invention showing a preferred embodiment for employing-the apparatus of this invention to crimp a filament or yam.

FIG. 2 shows both a plan view and an elevational view of wear plate'l0 of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 illustrates an altemateembodiment of this invention wherein pressure is applied at a difierent location on the apparatus. I

' FIG. 4 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the invention wherein the pressure plate of FIG. 1 is substituted by a roll segment. v

FIG. 5' is another embodiment of the invention wherein one of the packing flaps is adjustable.

FIG. 6 is still another embodiment of the invention illustrating a method of electrically insulating the crimping bracket from the remainder of the apparatus.

in FIG. 1. In continuous operation, after passing a feed roll 1, an undrawn filament bundle 43 is drawn between two drawing godets 2 and 3 and, thereupon, fed, via a is exerted on the filamentbundle which produces the .desired crimping of the filaments. After a continuous setting process, the crimped filament bundle 42 is re- -covered by passing over guide rolls 36,37, 38 and 39 to godet 40, and thence wound onto spindle 41. Godet Sis heated by any suitable means, such as an internal electric resistance heater 31 connected by suitable means (not shown) to brushes 32 and lead wires to a source (not shown) of electricpower. Godet 5 is rotated at the desired speed by any suitable means, such as the combination of pulley 33, belt 34, and motor 35.

The pressure plate 6 is pivotallymounted at 8 and is adjustable in the tangential direction by means of a screw 7. Pivot 8 and godet 5 are fixed or stationary with respect to each other. Plate 6. is movable by means of screw 7 in a direction which is axial with respect to screw 7 and, at the same time, tangential with respect to the surface of godet 5. The pressure on the pressure plate 6 and the stowing andpacking flaps 9 or 9' is exerted by independent pressure cylinders 11 and 12 or 12'. The pressure of the crimping bracket on the crimping godet 5' may, however, also (as shownin FIG. 3) be exerted via an extended arm 13 of the crimping bracket with the aid of a pneumatic plunger 14 This is functionally equivalent to the crimping deviceof FIG. 1.

As may be seen from FIG. 4, the pressure plate 6 may also be designed as a roll segment 15 which is pivotable deflecting or guide roller 4 to the crimping device of a cavity delimited by moving stowing and packing flaps- 9 and 9. Due to the adjustment of the stowing and packing flaps 9 and 9, a braking or compressive effect in a bearing l6'and which may, with the aid'of-a set screw 17, be put into a desired position; A stowing and packing flap 18 is mounted in the roll segment 15. The entire apparatus is pivotally mounted in bearings 19. Pressure may be applied to this embodiment by means of pneumatic pistons as shown in FIGS.-l and 3.

Fitted in the pressure plate 6 is a readily replaceable wear plate 10, which may be replaced when required. In the caseof a special, square form of embodiment thereof (shown in FIG-2), the wear plate 10 may be used up to eight times by rotating through 90 eachtime and reversing the wear plate. The cavities are milled into the plate and may be variously dimensioned depending on the yarn count be worked. i

For delimiting the cavity and braking or compressing the filament bundle, itwill generally be sufficient to provide one stowing and packing flap 9. In the case of an especially advantageous embodiment of the inven-' tion (shown in FIG. 5), however, the cavity is delimited by two stowing and packing flaps 9 and 9', one of which (9') is adjustable withthe aid of an eccentric mounting 23, in order that the crimping maybe varied within wide limits by constricting or enlarging-the first braking zone. The braking zone is adjusted in size by the movement of flap 9' towards or away from the surface of godet 5 as indicated by the directional arrows immediately above eccentric 23 in FIG. 5. This is accomplished by mounting flap 9' pivotally. on eccentric 23, I by means of an eye on flap 9' cooperative with a shaft on eccentric 23. It is unimportant exactly how the eccentric operates so long as it provides the indicated I movement to flap 9'. Piston l2 merely provides suffi cient force to prevent flap 9' from rotating clockwise around eccentric 23 during normal operation of the in- I vention, since any such rotation would enlarge the braking zone and destroy the crimping effectiveness of In order to be able to operate with the minimum of wear, godets having a hardened surface and-carrying hard metal wear plates are used. Dry running without filaments must be avoided as far as possible since otherwise, the surfaces are damaged. This is most simply achieved (as shown in FIG. 6) by electrically insulating the pressure bracket 6 from its holding device by an insulating bush 20 and switching off the godet drive motor, via a relay 22, put in a circuit (as shown in FIG. 7) connecting the godet and the pressure plate 6 via a current source 21 on contact of the bracket 6 with the godet.

According to a special mode of procedure, the filament bundle is, before introduction into the crimping device, guided several times about the hot godet in order to improve preplasticizing.

In a special form of embodiment, for the simultaneous crimping of a multiplicity of filament bundles, the same number of crimping brackets 6 are arranged in the same heated godet 5 (as shown in FIG. 8).

The device according to the invention may be considered to constitute an improved form of embodiment of a combination of known devices involving drawing the yarn over a sharp edge and the use of a stuffer crimping box. If the pressure line of the stationary pressure plate is considered to constitute the edge over which the filament is drawn, the pressure plate simultaneously performs the function of the second conveyor roll of a known stuffer box crimping apparatus. In its conception, however, the apparatus has decisive advantages as compared with known devices.

The device of the present invention offers simultaneously a multiplicity of variational possibilities, such as variability in the application pressure of the pressure plate and stowing and packing (stuffer) flaps, and also variation in the stowing and packing volume by displacing the pressure plate or by adjusting thestufier flaps.

Thus, the crimping conditions and the crimping itself are variable within wide limits.

With the crimping device described, it is possible to texture filaments or yarns, or filament or yarn bundles made from various high polymers, such as polyamides, polyesters, polyurethanes, polyacrylonitriles or polyolefins. The device is used mainly for the manufacture of carpet tapes or strips within a count range of approximately LOGO-5,000 dtex. However, it is also possible to texture finer or coarser counts, if the crimping device is appropriately dimensioned. The following Examples illustrate more particularly the invention.

EXAMPLE 1 A filament or yarn bundle consisting of 70 filaments (tape weight 0.36 g/m) of polyamide 6 is drawn or drafted in a ratio of 1 3.8 and is guided at a tape velocity of 200 m/min (as in drawing or drafting) over the crimping godet which at a temperature of 130C. After passing the pressure plate, pressure is applied to the pressure plate and the stuffer flap, whereby crimping is spontaneously initiated. The crimped tape emerging at low velocity is subsequently set, with a low draft, on a hot godet and is twisted directly on to a cop. In this way, there is produced a crimped tape exhibiting a shrinkage contraction of 34 percent after steam treatment for 10 minutes at 120 C. (The shrinkage contraction signifies, here and in the subsequent examples, the percentage of length diminution of a smooth-drawn tape or band, on being relieved of load).

EXAMPLE 2 A drawn filament tape made from polyamide 66 and having a total count of 1,330 dtex and an individual count of 20 dtex is introduced at a rate of 200 m/min into the crimping device shown in FIG. 1. The temperature of the crimping godet is 165 C. After introduction of the tape under the pressure plate, the latter is pressed-on at a pressure of 6 kp/cm while simultaneously the stuffer flap is applied at a pressure of 0.3 kp/cm There is produced a highly crimped tape which, after the same processing as set forth in Example 1, exhibits a contraction of 41 percent.

EXAMPLE 3 An undrawn filament bundle having 210 filaments and a tape weight of 1.5 g/m (made from polyamide 6) is drawn in the ratio of 1 3.85 and subsequently introvduced into the apparatus via the crimping godet which is at a temperature of C. The pressure of the pressure plate is adjusted to 16 kp/cm and that of the stuffer flap to 0.4 kp/cm After development of the crimp, a contraction of 33 percent was noted.

EXAMPLE 4 A drawn filament bundle made from 60 filaments of polypropyleneand having a count of 1,140 dtex was guided twice over the crimping roll (temperature '1 10 C), behind the pressure plate and about the roll and subsequently the center of the pressure plate. The pressure of the crimping bracket was adjusted to 3 kp/cm,

and that of the stuffer flap to 0.2 kp/cm The shrinkage contraction of the crimped tape was 23 percent.

EXAMPLE 5 EXAMPLE 6 An undrawn filament bundle from 142 polyacrylonitrile filaments (total count dtex 4,900, single count dtex 34) is stretched in a ratio of 1 3.07. The first stretching roller, heated to a temperature of 150 C, has a velocity of 45 m/min and the second stretching roller a velocity of 138 m/min. The hot filament bundle is subsequently conducted on the crimping roller having a temperature of C. The pressure on the plate is 18 kp/cm and the pressure on the stuffing fiap is 2 kp/m Crimping occurs spontaneously and the crimped filament bundle has the following properties:

count: dtex 2 050 contraction: 31 (after development of the crimp) (diminution of length) What we claim is: 1. An apparatus for producing crimped filaments in a two stage procedure comprising a crimping roller,

- means for driving said roller, means for heating said roller, a pressure plate carrying a replaceable wear plate which bears against said roller along a contact line, means for controlling pressure with which said wear plate bears against said roller, said wear plate having a cavity in its surface facingsaid roller below said contact line, a first movable stuffer flap attached to said pressure plate and capable of bearing against said roller below said wear plate and generally aligned with said cavity, means for controlling the pressure with which said first flap bears against said roller, a second movable stuffer flap similar to the first and bearing against said roller at a point spaced apart from that of the first flap in the same general alignment and farther from said cavity than the first flap, means for controlling the pressure with which said second flap bears against said roller, means for supplying filaments to said roller above said contact line, and means for removing filaments from said roller after passing said second flap.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure plate is adjustable in the tangential direction.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure plate is in the form of a roll segment. 

1. An apparatus for producing crimped filaments in a two stage procedure comprising a crimping roller, means for driving said roller, means for heating said roller, a pressure plate carrying a replaceable wear plate which bears against said roller along a contact line, means for controlling pressure with which said wear plate bears against said roller, said wear plate having a cavity in its surface facing said roller below said contact line, a first movable stuffer flap attached to said pressure plate and capable of bearing against said roller below said wear plate and generally aligned with said cavity, means for controlling the pressure with which said first flap bears against said roller, a second movable stuffer flap similar to the first and bearing against said roller at a point spaced apart from that of the first flap in the same general alignment and farther from said cavity than the first flap, means for controlling the pressure with which said second flap bears against said roller, means for supplying filaments to said roller above said contact line, and means for removing filaments from said roller after passing said second flap.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure plate is adjustable in the tangential direction.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure plate is in the form of a roll segment. 